Announcing the award for the worst brand name of 2009...

It should go without saying that your brand name shouldn't rhyme with "feces." Announcing the worst name of 2009...  With 10 unfortunately-named nominees including MomSpit, iSnack 2.0, and isoars, the competition was fierce for our highly uncoveted Head Scratcher of the Year award. After months of online voting, bribery and consulting with the show's producers, the runaway winner is Speesees. This name not only gives us a clinical case of the heebie jeebies, it blatantly disregards the no-brainer criteria of the Eat My Words SMILE & SCRATCH name evaluation test:

SMILE - the 5 qualities of a powerful name
Simple – easy-to-understand - No
Meaningful – customers "get it" - No
Imagery – creates a mental picture - Not a good one
Legs – wordplay opportunities - No, total dead end
Emotional – entertains, engages, etc. - No, "enrages" is not an emotion you want to evoke, especially from Eat My Words

SCRATCH it off the list if it has any of these 7 deal-breakers
Spelling-challenged – Absolutely!
Copycat – similar to competitor's names - No, thank goodness
Random – disconnected from the brand - Totally
Annoying – hidden meaning, forced -  Bingo!

Tame – flat, uninspired, boring - We think so
Curse of Knowledge – only insiders get it - Roger, that.
Hard-to-pronounce –  with spit-up in your mouth, yes

Speecees will be awarded a hideously ugly pink and gold Head Scratcher of the Year trophy, compliments of Eat My Words.

 

Please continue to send us bad names for our 2010 Head Scratcher contest. And if you want to make sure your own brand name doesn't get entered, go here to see if your name sucks.

New dish from the Eat My Words "idea kitchen"...

We have been happily ensconced in super fun, high profile name and tagline projects since late last year. Naturally, we are under NDA on everything, but we can tell you that our creative teams are having a blast naming things related to travel, beauty, music and romance. Speaking of all of those things, I fell head-over-cha-cha-heels in love with Cuba during a recent two-week holiday. I highly recommend you go now before Starbucks beats you to it. Or, just check out my very best Cuba photos.

Vote for the worst brand name of the year in our catty Headscratcher Contest

Vote for the worst brand name of 2009 in our third annual Headscratcher of the Year contest. Past winners include Xobni and Shryk. How can you tell if a name sucks? It's hard to spell, pronounce, decipher, meaningless to the audience, void of emotion, a copycat, or just gives you the heebie jeebies. (See the Eat My Words SMILE & SCRATCH Test for more criteria.)

Vote as many times as you like, and please share this with your friends. The winner will be announced in early February and be awarded a hideously ugly Head Scratcher of the Year trophy, compliments of Eat My Words.